Although the US Government has not published a US Government Configuration Baseline (USGCB) standard for Windows 8 or Windows 8.1, Microsoft has just published a beta release of Microsoft security guidance for Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012 R2 and Internet Explorer 11. It includes documentation, GPOs, and scripts for installing the recommended settings to local group policy. In addition to incorporating settings that were added to the new releases, we have added recommendations to help block some Pass the Hash attack vectors, block the use of web browsers on domain controllers, and incorporate the Enhanced Mitigation Experience Toolkit (EMET) into the standard baselines.